Tinubu to transmit bills for women, PWD seats – Abbas

President Bola Tinubu is set to transmit executive bills to the National Assembly seeking special seats for women and Persons with Disabilities in the federal and state legislatures, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, said on Thursday.

He disclosed this in Abuja at a reception organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in honour of the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, Prof Justin Green.

Abbas said the proposed legislation would create additional seats for the two groups beyond the existing elective seats, describing the move as a major inclusivity initiative of the 10th National Assembly.

Green is in Nigeria ahead of the World Public Relations Forum and the 37th African Public Relations Association Conference scheduled for November 15 to 21, 2026, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

The Speaker said the proposed legislation on reserved seats for women had been taken to the Ministry of Justice for fine-tuning, adding that a similar executive bill for PWDs would be transmitted within weeks.

He said, “We have come up with a lot of innovations in the 10th Assembly since 2023. Lawmakers are working on some areas that we are very optimistic will succeed before the end of this tenure. One of them is to ensure that ‘women inclusivity’ is given prominence.

“We have persuaded Mr President, and he has accepted, for the very first time, to sponsor executive bills through our effort to the National Assembly to provide special seats for women. And that will be independent of the regular seats that are being contested.

“So it is coming any time now because it is a request that he has taken to the Ministry of Justice to fine-tune and represent.

“We also initiated and facilitated, through Mr President, for the very first time, the inclusion of representation for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the National Assembly and the subnational legislatures.

“We are hoping that within the next few weeks, Mr President will also bring an executive bill that will enable Persons with Disabilities to have a say at both the national and subnational levels of our parliament.”

The proposed Reserved Seats for Women Bill is part of the ongoing constitutional review and seeks to create additional seats exclusively for women without displacing existing legislative constituencies.

Under the proposal, 37 additional seats would be created in the Senate and another 37 in the House of Representatives, with one seat for each state and the Federal Capital Territory.

Each of the 36 state Houses of Assembly would also get three additional seats reserved for women, one for each senatorial district. The proposed arrangement would operate for four general election cycles, or 16 years, before a review.

The proposal is intended to address Nigeria’s historically low representation of women in elective office.

The 10th National Assembly currently has four women in the Senate and 16 in the House of Representatives, according to legislative reform data.

A separate bill before the House, HB 1931, seeks to create special seats for physically challenged persons in the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly and local government legislative councils.

• Anyone who rigs election under me will go to jail — Obi
• Ogun, DP World sign $7bn port investment deal
• Improve intelligence sharing yielding security gains — FG

The proposal provides for one additional PWD member from each of the six geopolitical zones in both the Senate and House.

Abbas also said the National Assembly had maintained a strong working relationship between the Senate and House of Representatives.

“The National Assembly, as you know, operates as a bicameral legislature where we have the Senate, on the one hand, and the House of Representatives, on the other. We are proud that the relationship between the two chambers has been very good.

“We operate seamlessly and collaborate on every matter of national importance that is brought before us. The journey has been a very successful one. We operate independently but only collaborate where necessary,” he stated.

On the forthcoming global public relations forum, the Speaker described Nigeria’s hosting of the event as historic, saying delegates from 126 countries were expected in Abuja.

He thanked Green and NIPR President, Dr Ike Neliaku, for their roles in bringing the event to Nigeria.

Responding, Green praised Abbas and other National Assembly leaders for their efforts towards greater representation for women and PWDs in parliament.

He said, “What you have done is phenomenal. And to be honest with you, while the blood of Global Alliance runs through me, I think the heart is in a man like you who actually delivers on all elements from young to old.”

Neliaku, who also spoke at the event, said Nigeria had gone through a rigorous process to secure the hosting rights for the global forum.

He said Nigeria won the bid in March 2025 but was subsequently required to defend its readiness in Venice in June of the same year.

“After we won the bid in March 2025, we thought it was over. But it wasn’t. They dragged us to Venice to defend the bid in June 2025. That was the first time a country would be given a hosting right and still be asked to come and defend its readiness.

“It is like doing your PhD, and after the external examination, you are called back six months later to come and re-defend your thesis. Very unusual, but we had to do it,” he stated.

The forum is expected to attract about 3,000 delegates from 126 member countries of the Global Alliance.

The Presidency had, on August 20, assured the organisers of its support for the event, which is being organised in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation and the NIPR.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, gave the assurance when he received members of the WPRF Abuja 2026 Planning Committee at the State House, Abuja.